In response to the secularization of Christmas and the trend of censoring public references to this time-honored holiday, Focus on the Family and Focus on the Family Action began to speak out on the issue in 2007...In recent years, Focus on the Family has evaluated the advertising of major retailers and assigned ratings based on their level of “Christmas-friendliness.” We provided these ratings in an annual shopping guide. The response from consumers – and media outlets – has been remarkable.

This year, we’re excited to present a Christmas campaign with a twist!

We’re placing shoppers in the driver’s seat. Through this site, customers can provide feedback directly to retailers and share their experiences with fellow shoppers! [emphasis mine]

Okay, seriously, who thinks this is actually a good idea?

I don’t want to come across as throwing fellow Christians under the bus, but seriously, this is silly. [Read more…]

Have you ever noticed that there are certain songs that just seem ripe for co-opting? Songs that have something that sound vaguely spiritual—like they could be talking about God, but could just as easily be talking about a girl.

U2 is an obvious (and easy) example, particularly with their new record. Check this song out:

Now, in all fairness, Bono and the band do profess faith in Christ (true story), and many songs do have some pretty overt spiritual content. There are even a lot of churches that are already playing their stuff during their corporate worship (including some Anglican ones, I believe). But, it just seems, I don’t know, a bit weird to me. Maybe it’s just me.

While listening to the radio this week, I found that there are actually quite a few songs that, if you thought about it hard enough, you could probably co-opt for a Christian worship service.

And I was even more surprised when I realized that one is the newest Our Lady Peace single, All You Did Was Save My Life: [Read more…]

We made a stunning revelation Wednesday night: In college, Emily and I were so emo—and we didn’t even know it!

Now, I may not have worn eyeliner… or painted my nails… or worn girl pants… but when it came to home decor, we were so emo.

We learned this with the help of Everybody Hurts: An Essential Guide to Emo Culture. In this book, authors Leslie Simon and Trevor Kelley include an important chapter about growing up—the most dreaded concept to everyone from teens to 40-somethings. In this chapter, they write:

Generally, interior design is a concept that most emo types fail to embrace until they reach their mid-twenties, which is why their first home away from home (often obtained around the age of nineteen) will include the following:

Honestly, this is not too far off from our first apartments (and college dorms). Comic book art and band posters, the hand-me-down puffy pleather sofa (which, in terms of decor, may be on par with the futon), a DIY entertainment unit. It was pretty rough.

But here’s what caught our attention:

Your average adult emo home will be heavily outfitted by Ikea, West Elm, or Pottery Barn and will probably look identical to all your friends’ homes. Generally, these homes will include the following:

A real couch… A slightly better bookshelf [with real books in it that cost somewhere in the neighborhood of $150, but still has the stability of a stack of milk crates]… Photographs and art, but not too much [usually consisting of either cartoon-looking concert posters or nauseating photos of the married couple].

Our house is an Ikea catalog. We can’t help it, they make affordable and awesome furniture. Our shaky bookshelves are bowing under the weight of a couple hundred real books. And yes, we have pictures of ourselves around the house, and a painting of toast in our kitchen.

Now while Emily tells me that our home decor is called something like “modern country,” I think there’s a lesson to be learned: There’s a little emo in all of us.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to watch a Cameron Crowe movie and then listen to Weezer.

Last week, Abraham Piper shared 22 ridiculous things he believed as a child, all of which put a smile on my face. In honor of the Victoria Day long weekend, I’ve compiled my own list of the ridiculous things I believed as a child. I hope you enjoy.

I could fly if I tried hard enough

I had a shot with the prettiest girl in school

Being in Chess Club didn’t mark me as one of the “loser” kids

Aerosmith was awesome

Star Trek was cool

Star Trek: The Next Generation was even cooler (to be fair, the two-part episode where Picard became a Borg is pretty B.A.)

That Voyager had potential to be awesome (I watched way too much Star Trek as a kid)

He-Man and the Masters of the Universe = quality cartoon

Thundercats didn’t suck

Glasses = intellectual

Transformers was excellent

No one would notice if I refilled what I took out of the soda bottle with water

Mom also wouldn’t notice that I ate all the macaroons she made at Christmas

Sweat pants were acceptable in public

Saved by the Bell was funny (tragically, it’s still a guilty pleasure; shame on me, I know)

You can learn Karate by watching The Karate Kid repeatedly

Karate Kid II was worth watching

Ditto Tim Burton’s Batman

I could diffuse a bomb with chewing gum and chicken wire

That someday, I too could go back in time in a 1985 DeLorean; all I needed was plutonium and a flux capacitor

That I could drive at the age of ten, just because it looked easy

Wearing muscle shirts meant you had muscles (obviously)

That’s my list, although I’m sure there’s many, many more things I could add.